January 2018 TBR Strategy

Happy January! I know it’s so silly to say, but 2017 feels like it flew by so quickly! I cannot believe that this blog is almost a year old, and things have changed so much for me since I started it.

Now that the post-Christmas haze is clearing, I’ve looked at my shelves and felt a great sinking feeling. I have so many books to read! Between the library and Christmas presents, there are so many amazing books sitting on my shelves. I know I won’t actually stick to this TBR (because I so rarely do), but it should really help me figure out what to prioritise in the month of January!

I have 15 books on my TBR for the month. This list is made up of a combination of library books, advance copies, and books that I just happen to own. Let’s take a look!

Not pictured: Gardens of the Moon (it was in my purse).

Library books

Only a portion of my current library haul. Yikes!!

Lockwood: The Screaming Staircase by Jonathan Stroud

Lockwood: The Whispering Skull by Jonathan Stroud

The Elite by Kiera Cass

The One by Kiera Cass

Final Girls by Riley Stager

Four books in series and one standalone here! Lockwood keeps popping up as a much-beloved series, and a trusted friend and reader recommended them to me. I’m hoping they don’t frighten me too much — I’m such a wimp.

Next up are the last two books in the Selection series. They’re so trashy and ridiculous but honestly I had so much fun reading the first one. I’m really looking forward to more adventures with our horrible heroine and the love triangle with the easiest choice ever.

Final Girls is a book that has been catching my eye a lot, but I know little about. It looks like a thriller that will keep me on the edge of my seat!

Advance copies

Zenith by Sasha Alsberg and Lindsey Cummings

The Fandom by Anna Day

The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton

Paris Adrift by E. J. Swift

Zenith seems to have made its way into every TBR strategy post since August, but I have yet to read it. Time is ticking away on this book — it is due to come out in the UK on the 11th of January!

The Belles is one of my most highly anticipated books of the year! I was so thrilled to get a copy of it in the post just before Christmas — it felt like Santa came early!

The Fandom and Paris Adrift are two books I’m quite excited about as well. The Fandom was one of the proofs I received at YALC, which was in July, and I still haven’t managed to read it yet. I’ve heard good things about this book and I’m looking forward to it! Paris Adrift sounds so intriguing! It is one of my current reads, but I am not very far yet. In addition to having a stunning cover, it sounds like it’s the perfect time travel book.

Books I own

My arms nearly fell off in Waterstones

Everless by Sara Holland

The Diviners by Libba Bray

Girls Made of Snow and Glass by Melissa Bashardoust

Astrophysics for People in a Hurry by Neil Degrasse Tyson

A Skinful of Shadows by Francis Hardinge

Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson

This list is a combination of books I already owned from 2017, the December FairyLoot book (Everless), and Christmas presents. This is quite the list! Everless, The Diviners, A Skinful of Shadows, and Girls Made of Snow and Glass are all YA fantasy. I’m most looking forward to The Diviners, which I’ve been hearing amazing things about for years, and Girls Made of Snow and Glass, which sounds like an amazing Snow White retelling.

Astrophysics for People in a Hurry and Gardens of the Moon are the two that stand out here. I love Neil Degrasse Tyson so much and I don’t care what anyone has to say about him (I’m sure Pluto has a few words). He makes science so incredibly accessible and wondrous to ordinary people like me. Fun fact: I would have become an astronomer if I had the right brain for it. Sadly, I have more of a reader’s brain than a scientist’s brain, so I have to stick to my sci-fi. This little book is non-fiction and sounds brilliant. I can’t wait to dive in.

Gardens of the Moon is going to be a challenge! Notorious within the adult fantasy world for being incredibly difficult, it is January’s book for my book club. I swore I wouldn’t start Malazan until I finished Wheel of Time, but that isn’t going to happen anytime soon. I’ve already started and am approaching with caution (but honestly, it’s not that bad). At 729 pages, books like Gardens of the Moon are the reason why I lowered my Goodreads challenge!

I know I wont be able to read every book on this list, but I’d love to read at least six! I want to start the year off right and read some amazing books.

What are you planning to read in January? Have you read any of these books? What did you think? Let me know!